Root problem...

[The Corsican]

Well,

Today I found out that three of my plants were males so I hacked them down. What a bitch! One plant is definitely a female and the clone I took off of her (providence?) happened to be the one I decided to through in a one gallon bubbler the other day.

Here's my dilemma...I have three empty pods in one of my DWC units. All of the roots have grown together and I want to restock the unit with females. How do I get out all of the male roots without killing my female?

I still have another DWC unit with four plants. I hope some or all of them turn out to be female but they aren't showing their sex just yet. I'm praying they won't be a waste of time.

-the Corsican.

[Raider_aod_2000]

Hello, don't worry the root problem is an easy fix. What you are going to do is cut the males roots away from your female plant at a good distance from her roots so as not to dmg any of her systems or put her in shock. Then you are going to store her in an easy to clean water system so you will be able to strain out the dying male roots. After you clear almost all the dead roots off hear you will rinse her root system to get any left overs off and then place her anywhere you wish. During the process make sure you set your nutrients correctly as to make her strong but also to quickly burn away the male roots that will burn away because they have no where to put the nutrients. Unfortionatly i wont be able to tell you the nutrient amount unless i see a picture of her size or a detailed discription. I hope this information has helped and good luck.

[Hatch]

Raider_aod_2000
Ebb & Flow



, Good Answer, I Would Just Like To Add A Few Things,
The Corsican
Peji Master
, This Is The Reason I Don't Like To Have Plants In The DWC For A Long Time, The Roots Always Grow Together, That's Why I Flower In The Aeroponic Pods, The Root Systems Don't Grow Together As Much, But Any Way, Its Not That Big Of A Deal, When I Have To Seperate Plants Out Of The DWC Systems That Have Been In There To Long Is I Get A Bucket Of Water With A Air Stone Aerating The Water, I'd Pull The Females Out First, Pull Up On The Basket Tell You Can Get A-Hold Of The Roots, Then Pull Easily And Steady, Pull It All The Way Out, You Won't Need To Cut The Roots, After You Get It Out, You Can Run Your Hand Down The Length Of The Roots To Pull Of Any Strays, Then Just Put It In The Bucket Of Water Tell You Get Everything Cleaned Out & Ready To Go Back, This Will Not Hurt The Plant, It Will Take Right Back Off Growing New Roots, I Have Done It Many, Many Times And Never Lost A Plant. Clean Out The Rest Of The Males & Roots Out Of The DWC System, And Start Back Fresh, It's Really Easy, & Don't Worry If She Looses Any Roots, They Will Grow Back Fast.

[DieAbetic]

dont forget to clean your scissors before cutting too! also, a quick spray with a 10% H2O2 solution mixed into distilled water would help after you cut to sterilize and make sure bacteria doesn't get into those freshly wounded roots. other than that follow the previous advice of separating and rinsing out the male roots. good luck!

[The Corsican]

Thanks guys,

Really great advice. This whole situation proves that positive thinking doesn't work very well! I'm going to get started in the next few hours.

Thanks again,

-the Corsican.

[4maggio]

Originally Posted by The Corsican

Thanks guys,

Really great advice. This whole situation proves that positive thinking doesn't work very well! I'm going to get started in the next few hours.

Thanks again,

-the Corsican.

High corsican.. I just saw your delema (3 weeks late), sorry..
but for another time....

I have done the cut the roots system.. OK.. but created ph swings, I couldn't get ALL the male roots out. Rotting roots = dropping ph, alot.

I've tried to not grow out the seed plants but some time one must.
When I do, I've found that if you cut the male at the base stalk, lift the pot from the res and at the same time put your hand (wash it first) in the res into the root zone and gently, like a paddle, swish the roots around, they will pull out and not damage the female roots much.

I do not LIKE doing this, that is why most times I will grow out the seed till I can take clones and put them into the cloner. When the seed plants show sex, axe the male clones (from the cloner) and go with the female clones, not growing out the seed plants, unless you want it/them for a mother/father plant.

I've practiced this at harvest time before I tried it on the real thing..
I've found it to work very nicely.. with minimal root destruction.
With the move to FEM seeds, not as much need for worrying about sex and seperating males from female seed plants...

Clones do not have a tap root, like seed plants, and their growing charactaristics are the same, clone to clone, unlike sibling seed plants.

[The Corsican]

I've had good luck with getting rid of the roots from the males. I didn't notice any serious Ph swings but maybe I got out most of the male roots? I like your idea of swishing your hands around in the res to untangle the roots. it makes a lot of sense. The roots are easier to untangle in the water verses out in open (where gravity has a greater effect).

Thanks,

-the Corsican.

[CAMSTER626]

Good info maggio

Hey Corsican

There is a product called HygroZyme that you can mix into your res to help break down any bits of root etc floating in your res...I just started using it...I had some root rot that I seem to have fended off using h202...but I would notice little pieces of dead roots floating in my buckets after changing out my res...I have found that adding HygroZyme to my res...it breaks all that junk down and I no longer have the floaters...If I remember correctly is was something like 22-23 bucks for a 500ml bottle...and worth every penny IMO.

Anyhow take care dude=)

CAM-

[archer27]

I am new to this world dwc. Hey by the way great info.
Question: Can I transfer my seedlings/sprouts to a dwc system? Or should I plant in soil for a couple of weeks before going to dwc?

[Budly]

Just a thought - I've never heard of it being done, but there's no reason why it wouldn't work to select a couple of nice, thick branches from your females and graft them onto those well developed male roots...

[operator1]

Archer... I wouldn't plant in soil if you plan on going to dwc later, its a mess, and most soil won't hold up well in a net pot and will retain too much water.

Budly... I think that is just a case where the effort is not worth the risk, there is no guarantee that it will work, and if you cloned already there is really no need for that since you have more females coming soon. It would be an interesting thing to try though, but not if you need the space or don't want to risk stressing your ladies by cutting off big branches.

[The Corsican]

Originally Posted by CAMSTER626

Good info maggio

Hey Corsican

There is a product called HygroZyme that you can mix into your res to help break down any bits of root etc floating in your res...I just started using it...I had some root rot that I seem to have fended off using h202...but I would notice little pieces of dead roots floating in my buckets after changing out my res...I have found that adding HygroZyme to my res...it breaks all that junk down and I no longer have the floaters...If I remember correctly is was something like 22-23 bucks for a 500ml bottle...and worth every penny IMO.

Anyhow take care dude=)

CAM-

Hey Cam,

I've heard of hygroZyme but so far I haven't really had a need for it. No root rot (possibly something to look forward to in the summer) problems so far.

If you start off your seedlings in rapid rooter plugs you can put them directly into a DWC system as soon as they hatch. I agree with operator.

-the Corsican.